The Franchise: Toronto Blue Jays: A Curated History of the Jays

by Keegan Matheson

In The Toronto Blue Jays, take a more profound and unique journey into the history of Canada's team.


This thoughtful and engaging collection of essays captures the astute fans' history of the franchise, going beyond well-worn narratives of yesteryear to uncover the less-discussed moments, decisions, people, and settings that fostered the Blue Jays' distinctive identity.


Through wheeling and dealing, mythmaking and community building, explore where the organization has been, how it came to prominence in the modern major league landscape, and how it will continue to evolve and stay in contention for generations to come.


Jays fans in the know will enjoy this personal, local, in-depth look at baseball history.

Genres: Baseball, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

Published August 12, 2025

Reviews

[Dave Cottenie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Franchise is a formulaic series of books focused on various sports teams. It is definitely limiting in scope. For the Toronto Blue Jays entry, author Keegan Matheson does a decent job of sharing some of the history of the team. The focus is definitely more on modern history as opposed to the early years of the team. The history portion is fairly brief and then the focus switches to profiles of key players and broadcasters throughout the tenure of the Jays. Particular significance is the chapter on Alison Gordon, who was the first female beat writer in MLB, a fact that is generally forgotten among even Toronto baseball fans. The sections on Tom Cheek and Buck Martinez are expertly written and elevate the overall product. A decent read.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this because I've been following the Blue Jays since they started. In fact, my sister and I attended the very first game - she was dressed up as a blue jay! This was before there was much merch, and she had to make her costume from scratch. I enjoyed the stories in the book and the memories they brought back. I especially liked the section on "the storytellers", the radio and television broadcasters. They are much more of a constant than the players have been. It's a "curated" history, but the one omission I was surprised about was how they got their name.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the most fun I have ever had reading a book. If you are a fan of the Blue Jays, buy one for yourself and all of your friends.

[Lorrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read for Jays fans; stories spanning the Blue Jays history from their first game in the snow in 1977 to the current team.